I took the deck off my trailer frame and removed the plywood from the framing so that I could properly biscuit join the 2 pieces of 3/4" ply floor as well as glue it all to the frame. (In the rush I was in when I moved to TX, I just dry fit everything and put the deck on the trailer so I could pull a load of stuff.) I read that PL Premium is most builders' adhesive of choice. When I used it I used a 4 inch screw to break the seal and moved it around to make sure the seal was as opened up as I could get it before I started trying to pump it from the caulk gun. It was so thick it was almost impossible to squeeze the trigger on the caulk gun and eventually the caulk gun started to bend. When it came out it I worked the 3/8" bead that I laid down into the intended area of adhesion with a small paint scraper.

Because of the thickness I used a lot of clamps. I'm wondering if this is normal. Is PL Premium really that hard to work with? It's my first time working with it. I was using the 8x version. Based on my experience with PL Premium I glued in the second piece of plywood (to the 2" x 2" frame) with Titebond III. I have never had a problem with Titebond and it's super easy to use. Just wanted to double-check with you guys to see if maybe I got a bad batch. I ended up just tossing the second tube. Might try returning it. The gluing of floor to frame isn't that big a deal because it's all bolted to the frame with carriage bolts. When I get the deck done I will be gluing the sides on and hoping to get all this sorted out before that day.

The PL you had was old. Fresh stock is easy enough to squeeze out and it squeezes flat between two parts easily too.

The mfg date code is on the bottom of the plunger cap. It should be good for 12 months when unopened. Unfortunately they use a date coding system. This PDF doc has a de-code explanation about the middle of page 2.

tony.latham wrote:I've used many tubes of that stuff. And no, it shouldn't be hard to squeeze out. I'd suggest perforating the interior foil with many stabs from a long nail.

Also... it's a lot cheaper to use the big tubes.

Tony

I used a long nail to multi-perforate the inner foil, also. I cut the plastic spout just a bit smaller than a 1/4"-20 bolt (which I would screw-in to seal the tube after using it, and with a 5/16" bolt the next usage, and 3/8" after that. And, I did have trouble with cheap caulk guns bending...I found a really hefty one that worked better (I lost it, or lent it out, and can't remember where I bought it, so it's gone now). As for excess PL getting everywhere...I always had blue shop towels handy, and paint thinner. But, since I sealed everything with PL, inside and out, I used so much and had "accidents" so often, that I must've sacrificed fifteen T-shirts and 5 pairs of jeans to the cause, due to permanent PL syndrome.

As stated above, you had "old" tubes. I found it very easy to work with. One tip if you are wanting to adhere a broad area with PL Premium is to use a disposable plastic notched trowel to distribute the product.

Easy to work with, good gap filling, awesomely strong, I glued a 2x4 to a ply wood wall and a few months later decided to remove it, it might as well been one solid piece of wood, lots of sawing, chiseling and scraping, ended up having to fill in some depressions in the ply where it stuck to the 2x4 and ripped out rather then separate, quicker dry time than titebond, less messy than GG, gap filling, all made it my glue of choice. It flows easily when fresh

Dan242 wrote:Easy to work with, good gap filling, awesomely strong, I glued a 2x4 to a ply wood wall and a few months later decided to remove it, it might as well been one solid piece of wood, lots of sawing, chiseling and scraping, ended up having to fill in some depressions in the ply where it stuck to the 2x4 and ripped out rather then separate, quicker dry time than titebond, less messy than GG, gap filling, all made it my glue of choice. It flows easily when fresh

Yes. Seemed odd that so many swear by it while I just swear at it. Will try it again when I do all the attach edges of top to deck. Thanks!